Longquan Monastery

Longquan Monastery, also known as Longquan Temple, is an ancient Chinese Buddhist temple first built in the Liao Dynasty (907-1125 AD) at the foot of Phoenix Mountain, in the northwest of Beijing. Tourists can visit traditional Chinese buildings and appreciate the ancient plants with a history of over 1,000 years. Many monks here are highly educated and they work out many advanced ways to deal with their daily lives in the temple and to spread religious doctrines. 
 

It’s said that the first abbot was often accompanied by a red snake when learning Buddhism in the temple. The shape of a snake is similar to a Chinese dragon. Besides, the temple is surrounded by the mountain springs, which is the origin of the name, Longquan Monastery, literally Dragon Spring Monastery. 
 

Longquan Temple, consisting of three courtyards and some of halls, was rebuilt according to the traditional Chinese style, including Sanhui Hall, Tiangwang Hall, Hengha Hall, and Weilaoye Hall. The most famous hall is Longwang Hall, built in the Qin Dynasty (221 - 207 BC). Entering from the temple gate, tourists can see an ancient stone bridge with 6.5 meters (7 yards) length and 4 meters (4 yards) width in the mid courtyard. The stone bridge is called Golden Dragon Bridge. It’s said that the bridge was built by the first abbot more than 1,000 years ago. 

Strolling through the temples, visitors can not only explore these ancient buildings, but also the ancient plants. Two calocedrus, standing at the gate of the temples, are more than 600 years old. Besides, two tall ginkgo trees and two cypresses in the temple are over a thousand years; they are good places to take photos.
 

Different from the traditional temples, Longquan Monastery is very good at using high-tech to spread the religious doctrines. Many monks in the temple are science geeks graduated from the top universities like Peking University and Tsinghua University. Many of them have a Ph.D. in science, and they abandon high-paying jobs to pursue their inner beliefs and then become monks. But their expertise is not wasted. 

Some monks form the IT group in the temple write code and use digital technology to manage the daily life in the temple. For example, they invented a check-in-out system to manage the 700 or so guest rooms and a book registration system for the library. If you visit their library, you will find that each monk has an electronic lending card to borrow or return the books. 

Some monks make up the cartoon group, who use simple and cute cartoons to spread the profound religious doctrines. They even developed a 60 cm (20 inches) high robot called Xi'an Er, who understands simple instructions and answers some simple questions. The little robot has become a super star. Tourists can appreciate these cartoon figures and talk with the little robot in the exhibition hall. 

 

Longquan Temple offers free lunch at 11 a.m. every day. Ladies sit on the first floor of the cafeteria and men need to go to the second floor. The vegetarian meal is simple, but delicious. Most of vegetables are grown by monks. No one is allowed to talk or waste food while eating. When you finish, you are supposed to wash your bowls. 

If you want to stay overnight in the temple, you can go to the Guest Room to apply for a room. 

 

1. Take subway line 4 and get off at the Anheqiao North Station, then take special bus line 16 to get to the Fenghuangling Nature Park Station, and go southwest for about 700 meters (760 yards) to East Gate of Fenghuangling Nature Park. Entering from the east gate of Fenghuangling Nature Park, tourists only need to walk southwest for about 10 minutes to get to the temple gate.